The Impact of Coronavirus on English Word-stock

In December 2019, the news of the coronavirus outbreak spread worldwide for the first time. At present, this historical event has already influenced merely all aspects of life. The language is one of the first that reflected the massive events occurring throughout the world. In the frame of this article, an attempt is made, firstly, to figure out dozens of new words, expressions and new definitions emerged in English due to global changes. Secondly, are considered the semantic changes some words have undergone as a result of extralinguistic processes i.e., narrowing of meaning, semantic broadening, etc. Thirdly, are emphasized the main word-formation means of coining new words and expressions: suffixation, compounding, abbreviation, etc.

Zoombombing is the combination of words Zoom and bombing. Originated from the name of the Zoom videoconferencing software program, the word means an unwanted, disturbing intervention, generally by Internet trolls and hackers, into a video conference call (Urbandictionary.com).
The firm said Zoom 5.0 will include upgraded encryption features to help protect data and fend off so-called "Zoombombing" (BBC.com).
The term became popular in 2020, when video conferencing became an alternative way of arranging classes, business meetings, etc. The term has also been used in reference to similar incidents on other teleconferencing platforms as a result of generalization of its meaning.
Coronababy (corona+baby) is the child born in 2020 during the quarantine caused by COVID-19. The word also refers to the babies that will be born after the Coronavirus quarantine is over.

Our city's population doubled in 2021 because of all the coronababies born (Urbandictionary.com).
Doomscrolling (doom+scrolling) is the process of obsessively reading social media posts about coronavirus and sociopolitical situation of the world because of the lockdown (Dictionary.com).
Unfortunately, doomscrolling has worsened during the pandemic because people are hypervigilant for danger and are more likely to seek information in hopes of finding a way to control the problem (Healthline.com).
Coronacut (corona+cut) is the result of cutting one's own or family members' hair due to the closure of hair salons. Compound words may be prerequisite for their semantic dimensions. In terms of endocentric compounds, the total meaning of the unit is derived from the meaning of its constituents as in the adduced examples coronababy, coronacoinages, whereas in the compounds coronacut, zoombombing, the meaning of the whole is "darkened" as it implies some metaphorical shift. Hence, they can be defined as exocentric type of compounding.
3) Conversion is highly productive in the formation of verbs, especially from compound nouns (Ginzburg, 1979, p. 136).
In case of the verb to social distance, adjective social has converted (transformed) into a verb; to social.
Social distancing or social distance are formerly existing terms but the verb of the expression is new and appeared due to conversion.
Social distancing used to be an expression showing a fancy way for introverts to seclude themselves.
Recently it gained its second meaning and is used to describe the practice of keeping away from other people as much as possible, or of keeping a certain distance from other people, in order to stop a disease from spreading to a lot of people (Dictionary.cambridge.org). We can illustrate the expression by the example of the article posted on the official website Redcross.org i.e., "How to Social Distance During COVID-19" (Redcross.org).
The verbal expression to shelter in place (derived from the corresponding adjective) means to find a safe location indoors and stay there because of hazards. The first known use of this word was in 1977 as an adjective in the expression shelter in place order, meaning an official order, issued during an emergency, that directs people to stay in the indoor place or building that they already occupy and not to leave unless absolutely necessary (Merriam-webster.com).
At present, the verb shelter in place has acquired a new shade of meaning and is used for staying at home and not leaving it unnecessarily because of the coronavirus outbreak.

San Francisco and five other Bay Area counties in California have ordered all residents to
shelter-in-place to curb the spread of coronavirus (Theguardian.com).
Modern English vocabulary is exceedingly rich in conversion pairs. As a way of forming words conversion is extremely productive and new conversion pairs make their appearance in fiction, newspaper articles and in the process of oral communication in all spheres of human activity gradually forcing their way into the existing vocabulary and into the dictionaries as well (Ginzburg, 1979, p. 136).
4) Shortening is a form of subtraction in which part of the word is taken away. Shortened variants of the words are more common in spoken language and are therefore stylistically colored (Girunyan, 2009).
The shortened variant of coronavirus, i.e., corona is used extensively among people.
As it was stated above, the name "coronavirus" itself is derived from Latin word corona, meaning "crown" or "wreath". But the shortened variant of coronavirus indicates neither the crown nor the circle of light that can sometimes be seen around the moon at night, or around the sun during an eclipse. It indicates coronavirus itself and is considered to be the shortened variant of the very word.
The word corona is shortened to rona, which is more colloquial (dictionary.com).
It's astoundingly interesting, that coronavirus is personified as Miss Rona, Aunt Rona, the Rona, to refer to COVID-19 ironically, especially when commenting on the challenges of social distancing during the pandemic in more humorous way. A possible explanation to this phenomenon is that the shortened form of the word coronavirus, i.e., rona coincides with the existing female name Rona (Hebrew female name (meaning: song, joy), Celtic-Gaelic female name "rough island" in Gaelic (Behindthename.com)).
5) The term abbreviation may be also used for a shortened form of a written word or phrase used in a text in place of the whole for economy of space and effort. Abbreviation is achieved by omission of letters from one or more parts of the whole (Arnold, 1986, p. 144).
The actual new abbreviation originated during coronavirus pandemic is nCov which stands for novel coronavirus and is used to indicate a newly recognized coronavirus prior to definitive identification and Other abbreviations from coronavirus vocabulary WFH (work from home) and PPE (personal protective equipment) are formerly existing words that are widely used nowadays.
6) Blending is a type of word formation in which two or more words are merged into one so that the blended constituents are either clipped, or partially overlap. Blends are formed by combining phonemes from different words (Girunyan, 2009).
The first well-known blend is the word Covid-19. COVID is the blend of the words coronavirus and disease.
Covidiot is another blend of the words COVID-19 and idiot. Covidiot is a slang insult for someone who ignores the warnings regarding public health or safety. Some signs of covidiocy are: not washing your hands regularly, hanging out in groups of people, standing within six feet of a stranger, hoarding items like toilet paper and hand sanitizer (Dictionary.com).
For example, BBC Scotland news published an article named "Missing coronavirus cases and raving 'covidiots' make Scotland's Sunday papers" after "The Herald" newspaper reported that Scotland's contact tracing system was missing more than 400 patients with confirmed cases of coronavirus (BBC.com).
Covidivorse is blend of COVID-19 and divorce. The word is used to express the divorce that happened because of being in extended isolation during COVID-19 quarantine (Dictionary.com).
Couples whose marriages are fraying under the pressures of self-isolation could be heading for a "covidivorce" (Nytimes.com).
Coronapocalypse means the "end of the world" via coronavirus. It is the blend of coronavirus and apocalypse. Seemingly there is word coronageddon that is the blend of coronavirus and armageddon. It is defined as the near-certain, end-of-times condition created either by the actual COVID-19 virus or the massive social, financial and political devastation (Dictionary.com).
It won't be easy to stand coronageddon for our country.
A blend of dumping (the act of getting rid of something that is not wanted) and Zoom (the popular video service), zumping is when you break up with someone over a video conferencing service (Dictionary.com).
And of course there's a catchy name for this phenomenon: zumping (Collinsdictionary.com).
Moronavirus is another term for a covidiot. Moron is an informal word describing a person who is notably stupid or lacking in good judgment. Calling someone a covidiot or moronavirus is a form of quarantine shaming. That is slang for criticizing someone for not following health and safety guidelines (Dictionary.com).
Quarantini is another slang term for a cocktail people drink at home while under quarantine because of the coronavirus. The term is a blend of quarantine and martini (Dictionary.com) Quarantini has become a more general term and is used for other types of alcoholic beverages consumed at home during the pandemic.

The initial thought behind a Quarantini was that it's a martini that you drink alone in your house when
under lockdown (Thenovicechefblog.com).
The new generation of children conceived during COVID-19 has been named the coronials, blend of coronavirus and millennials. And when coronials get older, they will become quaranteens, blend of the words quarantine and teenager (Dictionary.com).
We can now expect a wave of "coronababies" and a new generation of "quaranteens" in 2033 (Nytimes.com).
Quaranteam is the group of people you voluntarily choose to socialize with or even live with during the quarantine (Theconversation.com). The word quaranteam is a blend of quarantine and team. There is the corresponding verb quaranteaming as well.
Quaranteaming is not necessarily a surprising phenomenon, according to some experts (Edition.cnn.com).
Infodemic, blend of information and epidemic, is used to describe misinformation being spread through various media, namely social media (Public.oed.com).

WHO has warned against the overabundance of information, including falsehoods, about the pandemic,
calling it an "infodemic" (Edition.cnn.com).
The diagram below shows the effectiveness of word formation means in producing new words during COVID-19.

Figure 1. The Effectiveness of Word Formation Means during COVID-19
The most productive one in the range of word-formation means occurs to be blending, making 45% out of 28 analyzed examples. Coronavirus has led to the birth of new expressions as well that emerged mainly based on formerly existing expressions. Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is an expression referring to the coronavirus distinct from the known coronaviruses and is not detected or reported before.
It is a temporary name assigned to the new type of coronaviruses before its permanent name is decided upon. The word novel designates the new pathogen of a previously identified family of a virus.
Happy hour is a cocktail hour or longer period at a bar or a pub, usually in the early evening, when drinks are served at reduced prices, sometimes with free snacks especially at the end of the workday. Similarly, Virtual happy hour is the time when people arrange video chats or video conferencing and drink cocktails and other alcoholic beverages after working from home (Dictionary.com).
The expression covideo party depicts online parties people arrange during the quarantine and it's alike virtual happy hour.
Quarantine and chill is an expression used to describe multiple ways people stay at home for a long time and spend their free time during coronavirus (Dictionary.com).
Besides In case of generalization, the widening of a word's meaning and reference takes places over the years.
In 2020 video conferences and online classes are mainly done by Zoom program. And soon hackers started to intervene online meeting for multiple reasons. This kind of attacks became frequent during the first period of using the application, and people called that kind of attacks zoombombing. The term became so popular, that all kinds of online video conference attacks are called zoombombing nowadays no matter it's via zoom or other programs.
Zumping is the blend of zoom and dumping. Dumping is the act of getting rid of someone who is not wanted. Similarly, zumping is the same action via zoom or similar video conferencing application. It used to describe dumping a romantic partner via zoom, but soon due to generalization of the meaning of the word describes the same action via all kind of similar programs.
Specialization (narrowing, restriction) is the narrowing (reduction) in a word's range of meaning and often a generic word is limited to a more specialized use (Studfile.net   become peculiar not only to English, but also to other languages in the world.
To conclude, language is a living organism and changes in social life very quickly find their expression in the word-stock. Coronavirus led to the explosion of new words, expressions and new relevances to the old words. Merely all productive word formation means served to the process of generating new words.
Besides, some words have undergone semantic broadening and narrowing resulting in new definitions of formerly existing words. Some of the new words and definitions tend to be short-living and will probably disappear because of being too colloquial and specific, while others have already replenished the glossary of literary terms. Linguistic phenomena like bringing war metaphors to talk of the pandemic, and personification of a virus reveals the creative nature of the language.